What Are the Benefits of Using a Wedding Celebrant?

October 25, 2017

Weddings are not a one-size-fits-all occasion: they can be as different as people are to one another – in fact they can be all about celebrating this difference, as much as they are about people coming together.

How different can your wedding be? Modern weddings are often far more about personal choice, rather than following established patterns and rituals. You can, in fact, personalise your ceremony to a far greater extent than once was possible.

As a Manchester-based wedding videographer, I find that people sometimes feel intimidated by wedding arrangements, when they should feel liberated. Bringing more of yourself, and your personal choice into your wedding can be the answer.

If you want no restrictions on the style, content and format of your wedding, then consider using a wedding celebrant.

The Basics: How it Works

A wedding celebrant is a professionally trained officiant, who will help you create a personalised ceremony that’s fully bespoke to fit your requirements.

What a celebrant can’t do is legally marry you, so the best thing is to do this first, by arranging an appointment at a registry office. There you’ll become a legally married couple. The cost of doing it this way will be far less than arranging for a registrar to attend a licensed venue.

Then you can have your ceremony, in whatever way you please.

What you’re doing is freeing your ceremony from the constraints of the bit that officially marries you, and in so doing, blowing the possibilities of your ceremony wide open.

Arrange to meet with a celebrant to arrange the date of your ceremony, go through the details, including the programme and how you want to structure your ceremony.

The celebrant can help you put your vows together, and will finalise the order of your service.

The Benefits: Liberating Your Wedding

A ceremony with a celebrant is different to a civil wedding ceremony, because there are no restrictions on content, or having to choose a licensed wedding venue – and you will have to be legally married before it takes place.

You’re no longer bound by rules governing the time or place of your wedding.

So, for example, if you want your wedding outdoors, there’s nothing stopping you if you use a wedding celebrant. You might have a special setting in mind, which has specific romantic associations for you. Or you might want to do it in your own garden. The choice is yours.

For indoor venues, using a celebrant means the suitability of the venue depends solely on what kind of ceremony you want, rather than whether it’s licensed to hold wedding ceremonies.

You’re not restricted to a time of day either. Choose the time of your wedding ceremony that suits you and fits in with how you want it to be.

In other words, you set the tone completely. Your wedding should be as relaxed, or unusual, as you like. The ceremony you work out with your celebrant can perfectly reflect you as a couple.

From a wedding filmmaker’s viewpoint, a wedding held this way opens up all sorts of storytellingpossibilities. The same principle applies though: that I capture the essence of your wedding story.

Choosing Your Celebrant

If possible, do meet your celebrant face to face beforehand, because you want to be able to feel that you trust them. You need to be open and clear about what form you want your ceremony to take.

The rest is co-ordination and planning. Make sure you book your registry office in advance, and that you ask for the most basic, no-frills service. You’ll also need two witnesses with you on the day. Keep it casual. Remember, the real ceremony comes later.

In Love Wedding Films

I’m a Manchester-based wedding filmmaker. I specialise in wedding videography, filming weddings in Manchester, Lancashire and across the North West. Contact me about your wedding plans, and let me help you to relive your unique wedding memories on film.

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Manchester Wedding Videography

I tell love stories on film, making your wedding that much more memorable, so that you can relive your wedding day and share your love. I cover Manchester, Cheshire, Lancashire and the North West but can work further afield on request, including destination weddings abroad.